How to Measure Your Cabinet Overlay to Choose Correct Hinges

When you need to replace a cabinet hinge, first determine if you have an inset or overlay cabinet door. For overlay doors that lay flush on the outside of the cabinet opening, you will need to measure your "overlay".

Use this diagram to check if your door is an overlay door. Your hinge may mount differently than the one pictured, but notice the difference between the overlay and inset doors. The overlay doors lays completely outside of the cabinet frame, but the inset door is "notched" so that it fits partially into the cabinet opening.

The overlay is the amount that the door hides the cabinet face frame when the door is closed on the hinge side of the door. This is a guide to measuring your overlay for overlay cabinets. 

With the door in the closed position, put a sticky note, piece of tape or pencil mark on the cabinet, next to the edge of the door on the hinge side.

Open the cabinet door and measure from the edge of your mark to the edge of the cabinet opening. For some types of hinges, you may need to remove the cabinet door to measure the overlay. Some common overlays are 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch, 5/8 inch, but other overlays are possible.

For wrap hinges, you can also measure from the backside of the frame wrap to the knuckle of the hinge as shown below in an image from hardwaresource.com.

There are many videos online about measuring your cabinet overlay. Here is a link to one that we recommend:

Amerock Answers: How to Measure Cabinet Overlay